Reading dropped closer to the Championship drop zone after they shipped another four goals away at Nottingham Forest.
The first 17 seconds set the tone for the afternoon as the Royals fell behind mere moments into the match when Keinan Davis scored.
Forest strolled to victory in the second-half as Davis added his second which was followed by goals from Ryan Yates and Sam Surridge.
Reading now sit four points above the relegation zone after Barnsley picked up a point against league leaders Fulham.
Paul Ince made three changes from Reading’s defeat at home to Millwall. Scott Dann, Yakou Meite and Josh Laurent all returned to the starting line-up.
Meanwhile, top scorer John Swift was absent from the matchday squad and the Championship’s Player of the Month for February, Lucas Joao, was named on the bench after missing some training sessions through illness.
Forest flew out of the traps and with just 17 seconds gone in the match, they took the lead as Reading were caught napping despite having two experienced defenders in the line-up in Dann and Michael Morrison.
Lively full-back Djed Spence burst forward and delivered a cross to find Keinan Davis in the middle and he converted to give the hosts a lightning quick start.
Tom Ince picked up an early booking after showing his fury to the referee who decided not to award a free-kick to Reading instead of allowing the winger to play advantage.
Ince provided Reading;s best moments in attack throughout the first-half, which were few and far between. He looked to set up Yakou Meite with a pull back after beating two defenders only for his cross to be intercepted.
A big chance came and went for Reading when the ball dropped inside the box for Morrison to hit, while Forest’s goalkeeper Ethan Horvath came to the rescue to keep his team in front.
Andy Yiadom picked up a yellow card as did Danny Drinkwater and Jack Colback for the hosts.
Reading’s best opportunity of the half came following a surging run from Ince who moved forward with purpose and picked out Josh Laurent’s run from deep at the back post but the midfielder headed over the top.
Another chance came the way of the Royals when Morrison headed the ball across the face of goal but Forest keeper Horvath managed to flap the ball away and Steve Cooper’s team eventually cleared.
That brought a close to the half in what was a lacklustre display from Reading following a sloppy start to the afternoon.
Reading captain Morrison was next to go in the referee’s notebook after the restart when he went in hard on Cafu.
Luke Southwood was required to make a stop when he palmed away James Garner’s cross-shot.
Interim boss Ince made a first change in the 57th minute when Ovie Ejaria replaced Andy Rinomhota.
Forest extended their advantage just after the hour mark when Davis spun into the box and dispatched the ball past Southwood after his shot kissed the inside of the post before finding the net.
A second switch was made to try and recover something from the game with 20 minutes to go as Lucas Joao came on for Drinkwater.
With 15 minutes left, Forest found a third to seal the points when a speculative strike from Ryan Yates went through the gloves of Southwood to find the corner.
Brandon Barker entered the game to make his Royals debut in place of Junior Hoilett.
Just moments later, Forest added insult to injury by adding a fourth of the afternoon.
Substitute Sam Surridge latched onto the end of and swept the ball past Southwood.
Reading’s calamitous defence has now seen them conceded 72 goals in the league this season which leaves them in the midst of a tense battle for survival.
Ince’s men face another tough trip on Tuesday night when they face promotion pushing AFC Bournemouth.
Nottingham Forest: Horvath, Worrall, Cook, McKenna, Spence, Yates, Garner, Colback, Lowe, Johnson, Davis
Subs: Samba, Silva, Surridge, Mighten, Cafu, Lolley, Figueiredo
Reading: Southwood, Yiadom, Morrison (c), Dann, McIntyre, Laurent, Drinkwater, Rinomhota, Hoilett, Ince, Meite
Subs: Nyland, Abrefa, Dele-Bashiru, Ejaria, Barker, Joao, Clarke
Goals: Davis 1’, 62’, Yates 75’, Surridge 80’
